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Good Friday morning everyone! I have made a few changes to the blog. I am going to try place the weather tracking tools at the bottom three quarters of the page. The top quarter of the page will be my current thoughts and comments concerning what I am seeing on the models and the latest data.

Rain will come to an end this morning - the rest of the day should be dry. Highs will be cooler today vs yesterday. Expect highs in the 45-50 degree range. Lows tonight will be in the 20s. Highs on Saturday will be near 60!

Saturday will be dry during the day - rain chances will increase a bit on Saturday night. Rain and thunderstorm chances will dramatically increase on Sunday.

Widespread showers and thunderstorms will move west to east over our region on Sunday.

A strong area of low pressure will develop in the Midwest on Saturday and quickly move northeast into Minnesota on Sunday. This will drag a cold front into our region.

Showers and a line of thunderstorms will develop on Sunday - along the cold front This line will push completely through our region on Sunday afternoon. Locally heavy rain will be possible. Rainfall totals should be in the 0.50"-1.00" range.

Severe weather concerns? There will be a chance for a few severe thunderstorms with this system.

The one thing that holds me back from forecasting a lot of severe weather are the dew points. Dew points may only reach 50-55 degrees. I like to see 55-60 when forecasting severe storms. This is a marginal setup. Wind fields will be strong. Instability will be lacking.

If a line of thunderstorms does form then a few reports of damaging wind might occur. I can't rule out an isolated tornado. Let's monitor the next 24 hours and I will updateagain on Friday night (late) and Saturday.

Here is the future-cast radar from wright-weather.com - this is the NAM model showing you what the radar might look like early Sunday afternoon.

Forecast graphics above

A winter storm may develop on Tuesday night/Wednesday across the southern United States and move east/northeast into the southeast states. This storm system may track further south than recent events - I am not confident that it will impact our region. I am giving it a 2 in 10 chance for bringing snow into our local region. Not the best chance. But, I will continue to monitor it.

A winter storm may develop on Tuesday night/Wednesday across the southern United States and move east/northeast into the southeast states. This storm system may track further south than recent events - I am not confident that it will impact our region. I am giving it a 2 in 10 chance for bringing snow into our local region. Not the best chance. But, I will continue to monitor it.

It isn't too soon to do a snow dance. If you are a snow fan - then dance away

This is the kind of pattern that favors significant winter storms for our region. It is just a matter of getting the pieces of energy to phase correctly. The next 2-3 weeks will be quite interesting to forecast. It could be an all or nothing type pattern. Watch the southern storm tracks.

The longer range is starting to show some colder shots of air after this week. A couple of storm systems may track south of our region. This might mean snow for some areas of the south-lands and southeast United States. A bit early to make a call on storm tracks. Stay tuned!

If you are a weather enthusiast then I recommend listening to WeatherBrains each week! For a more in-depth look at what is happening in meteorology.

Now is a GREAT time to buy a NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio. Better to have one before storms strike than to be without one during an event. I recommend the Midland Model 300 NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio - that is what I use here at my house!